Profile

In 2008, Senator Ward won the Pennsylvania 39th Senatorial District seat and was the first woman ever elected to that seat. She was re-elected in 2012. Prior to her election to the Senate, she served as a Westmoreland County Commissioner in 2007, and on the Hempfield Township Board of Supervisors from 2002-2007, where she was Chairwoman of the Board for the final three years.

In her first term, Senator Ward successfully crafted legislation that reduced spending on state subsidized methadone treatment transportation; implemented the federal E-Verify program to ensure workers on publicly funded construction projects were legally permitted to work; and re-authorized the emergency services grant program. In addition, she led the charge for greater protections for PA children with groundbreaking legislation that created the Statewide Task Force on Child Protection. The premise behind the creation of the task force was to make recommendations to update PA's aging child protection laws.

Senator Ward is currently the Chairwoman of the Senate Community, Economic, and Recreational Development Committee. She was the previous Chair of the Senate Aging and Youth Committee.

Senator Ward is a member of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Hempfield Township, the Italian Sons and Daughters of America, the N.R.A. and is a Mentor for the Anne Anstine Women's Services. She is also a Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics; 2012 Legislative Fellow at Indiana University of PA; and currently serves on the Port of Pittsburgh Commission.

State Senator Kim Ward is a native southwestern Pennsylvania resident who grew up in Meadowlands, Washington County. She attended The Community College of Allegheny County Respiratory Therapy program, the University of Pittsburgh and Middle Tennessee State University.

Before entering politics Kim worked as a Board Certified Respiratory Therapist at Allegheny General Hospital, Vanderbilt University Hospital and Hershey Medical Center.

She and her husband, Dr. Thomas Ward, have three sons, Tom, Michael, and Matthew.